Morgan Stanley Merges U.S. Private and International Wealth Units

March 13, 2019

Morgan Stanley has merged its U.S. Private Wealth Management and International Wealth Management units, according to news reports.

Mandell Crawley, currently head of the Private Wealth business, will oversee the merged unit, AdvisorHub writes, citing an internal memo. Colbert Narcisse, who has been leading the international unit, is leaving Morgan Stanley for the money management firm TIAA, according to the memo cited by the industry news website.

Ileana Musa and Greg Gatesman will oversee the day-to-day operations of Morgan Stanley’s international brokers and report to Crawley, the memo says, according to AdvisorHub.

A spokeswoman for the firm did not immediately disclose the size of its international broker force to the website.

Morgan Stanley has “refocused and repositioned” its international wealth management business over several years “to serve a higher net worth client segment” and to expand its services, Vince Lumia, head of Morgan Stanley wealth management, writes in the memo cited by AdvisorHub.

A year ago, Morgan Stanley opted to end its relationship with some clients outside the U.S., and a source told Bloomberg at the time that it only affected a small fraction of its international business, and only relatively small accounts.

In January, Morgan Stanley saw the departure of Jose Salazar, who oversaw the firm’s main international wealth branch in Miami, according to AdvisorHub.

The company now also seems to be signaling that it will focus its international business on peddling credit instead of investments, the website writes.

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Morgan Stanley and rival Merrill Lynch have both increased minimums for international clients and cut the number of countries they work with to comply with anti-money laundering regulations, and similar restrictions have also occurred at Raymond James, Fidelity and RBC.